I took some time yesterday to see Black Panther for a second time, specifically to sample the new-ish ScreenX format. The film played on a somewhat 270-degree screen whereby the image literally expanded around the walls during certain major sequences. I would recommend it as a periodic novelty, especially something like Fate of the Furious or How To Train Your Dragon 2. But it’s another example of something that takes you out of the movie and is perhaps another example of theaters doing everything they can to bring folks back to cinemas except spending the time and money to make sure that the standard theatrical presentation is at least as polished as that found on your 1080p Blu-Ray.

Of course, I made the trip partially because I wanted to see Black Panther again (I would have seen Black Panther in theaters a third time if I could…). It still holds up, and I enjoyed the first act more the second time while further appreciating Sterling K. Brown’s glorified cameo, which may be one of the more moving blink-and-you-miss it turns this side of Donnie Wahlberg in The Sixth Sense. But one stood out yet again is the sheer quality (and respect given to) the film’s female ensemble. I would argue that Black Panther’s biggest long-term asset is its winning supporting casting of women warriors, and not just because they can kick ass.

What stood out about the likes of Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Guira and Angela Bassett weren’t that they were “fierce” or “bad-ass.” Those adjectives applied, and Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole deserve credit for never commenting on the idea of T’Challa surrounding himself with tough and opinionated women who were more than willing to give him hell if required. Speaking of which, the best part about Black Panther’s cast of women is that they were also pretty damn funny as well. It’s standard practice for a male-driven superhero movie to offer at least one “bad-ass” female warrior character. It’s less common to offer many of them and let them all crack jokes right alongside their male counterparts.

We’ve seen countless movies featuring a relatively humorless (if not mostly silent) female action figure either headlining her own movie or offering support to the top-billed dude. Be it Guardians of the Galaxy (Zoe Saldana’s Gamara is the only one who rarely cracks a joke) or the last few Star Wars movies (Rey is the very serious one while Poe cracks wise), there is an implicit presumption that warrior women cannot be both fierce and funny. Without casting intentional blame, and acknowledging that there is perhaps a pressure to make sure the women warriors are super-duper empowering, the end result is a bunch of “fierce” women warriors who end up feeding into a kind of “women can’t be funny” meta-commentary.

I would argue that one of the reasons that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow has been so popular is that she’s both a brutal combatant and a droll comedian. Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman had her moments of wit and snark in her own solo movie, even if she had less fun in the grimdark Batman v Superman or the tonally conflicted Justice League, while the rest of the Amazonians were comparatively quite serious. That’s not necessarily a criticism of the above-noted films or any others (like Snow White and the Huntsman or The Hunger Games) that come to mind, as this isn’t a one-size-fits-all scenario. But what stood out in Black Panther was that its cast of stereotypically bad-ass women were also responsible for many of the film’s biggest laughs, many of which were directed at its uber-noble superhero protagonist.

I’m not going to rehash the best jokes, but if you’ve seen the movie you know what I’m talking about. The playful romantic relationship between Nyong’o and T’Challa is played as much for laughs as for romance (like Batman Begins, the “female lead” is more of a moral conscience figure than a flat-out love interest although Katie Holmes’ Rachel Dawes doesn’t get a bunch of action sequences). Danai Gurira's Okoye gets her moments of amusing annoyance too. But it’s Wright’s Shuri (T’Challa’s sister) who steals the movie as Q to his 007. She is a non-stop ribbing machine, deflating her royal brother and offering a jolt of happy energy whenever she shows up.

This character alone would have made Black Panther something of a marvel for these kinds of movies. Far too many male-driven action movies and comedies let the dudes crack the jokes while the women disapprove or play the strong/serious/silent type. Heck, too many female-led flicks are so afraid of deflating their women warriors that they don’t let the women in on the joke alongside their male co-stars. In that sense, Black Panther is a revelation. The women of Wakanda are allowed to be fierce, passionate and opinionated no matter on which side of the film’s moral divides they find themselves. But they are also presented as/allowed to be witty, sarcastic, sardonic and (especially Shuri) good-natured assholes.

We all know that Shuri is apparently the smartest person in the MCU, even brighter than Tony Stark or Bruce Banner. Time will tell as to whether she can also claim the mantle of being “The Funniest Avenger.”

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